Software and system for customizing a presentation of digital images

ABSTRACT

A method for customizing a presentation of a set of digital images provided by a user is disclosed, comprising the steps of selecting an initial presentation format criteria for the set of digital images by the user; analyzing the digital images for additional information; providing to the user a first portable electronic storage medium having the set of digital images stored thereon, the images capable of being presented to the user on a display device in accordance with a first presentation format based upon the initial selected presentation format criteria and the analysis of the additional information; and providing a software program to the user enabling the user to select additional presentation format criteria.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/178,976 filedJun. 25, 2002.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of multimedia authoring systems andsoftware and, more particularly, it is in the field of template-basedmultimedia authoring systems and software where an initial multimediapresentation may be easily edited or otherwise modified by a user tocreate an improved presentation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is widely recognized that viewing images in the form of a multimediapresentation is much more compelling than simply skimming through astack of hard-copy prints, or looking at a series of static imagespresented sequentially using a slide projector, computer, or televisionscreen. The addition of other elements to the presentation such as asound track appropriate to the content of the images, the insertion ofinteresting transitions between the images, the addition of a video clipor the creation of various video-style special effects including fadesand dissolves, image-collaging, or colorization makes the presentationmuch more interesting to the viewer and can greatly enhance theemotional content of the images being presented. The proliferation inthe home of new television-based viewing platforms able to accommodatemultimedia, including DVD or Video CD players, also increases the demandfor this type of presentation.

For the ordinary photographic consumer, the creation of a multimediapresentation is not presently very convenient. Even if the images areavailable in digital form, a consumer must have facility with multimediaauthoring software tools such as Macromedia Director™ or Adobe Premier™in order to create such a presentation. These software tools, while veryflexible, are aimed more at the professional presentation creator, havemultiple options, and require a great deal of time and experience todevelop the skill needed to use them to advantage. More recently,template-based multimedia presentation applications such as Photojam™,offered by Shockwave.com, or PC-based “movie making” applications suchas Apple's I-Movie™ have become available. While these applications cansimplify the creation of multi-media presentations for a consumer, theyoffer only a limited choice of initial presentation options, or do notoffer much in the way of enabling the user to easily edit and improvethe initial presentation. In addition, these applications offer no wayfor a user to easily and conveniently access various kinds of additionalmaterial such as stock images, graphics, video, sound clips, eitherpublic domain or copyrighted material, which could be used to makepresentations much more exciting and compelling.

Thus, there remains a need for a simplified authoring system where aninexperienced user can easily create, edit, update, and customize amultimedia presentation and then obtain copies of the presentation in avariety of storage formats useful with multiple types of presentationdevices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In answer to these and other needs, and in accordance with one aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a method for customizing apresentation of a set of digital images provided by a user, comprisingthe steps of selecting an initial presentation format criteria for theset of digital images by the user; analyzing the digital images foradditional information; providing to the user a first portableelectronic storage medium having the set of digital images storedthereon, the images capable of being presented to the user on a displaydevice in accordance with a first presentation format based upon theinitial selected presentation format criteria and the analysis of theadditional information; and providing a software program to the userenabling the user to select additional presentation format criteria.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method for customizing a presentation of a set of digitalimages provided by a user, comprising the steps of selecting an initialpresentation format criteria for the set of digital images by the user;analyzing the digital images for additional information; providing thedigital images in association with a first presentation format that canbe viewed by the user, the format selected in accordance with theinitial selected presentation format criteria and the analysis of theadditional information, the presentation also including a selection menufor providing instructions for modifying and/or changing thepresentation to a second presentation format; selecting the instructionsfor modifying and/or organizing the presentation; and forwarding theselected instructions to a service provider for implementing with regardto a modified format and representing the images in associationtherewith to the user.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method for customizing a presentation of a set of digitalimages provided by a user, comprising the steps of: analyzing thedigital images for semantic information; and providing the digitalimages in association with a first presentation format that can beviewed by the user, the format automatically selected in accordance withthe semantic information.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, thereis also provided a portable electronic storage medium having at leastone digital image stored thereon, the at least one digital image capableof being presented to a user on a display device wherein the at leastone digital image displayed in accordance with a first presentationformat, and a software program having the ability to present the atleast one digital image in accordance with a second presentation formatdifferent from the first presentation format.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, thereis also provided a portable electronic storage medium having at leastone digital image stored thereon, the at least one digital image beingcapable of being presented to a user on a display device in associationwith at least one sample presentation format, and a software program forpresenting the at least one digital image with respect to a plurality ofpartial presentation formats and means for selecting one of theplurality of partial presentation formats so that an entire presentationformat associated with the partial presentation format can be applied tothe digital image.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, thereis also provided a portable electronic storage medium having at leastone digital low resolution image stored thereon, the at least onedigital low resolution image being capable of being presented to a useron a display device in association with a plurality of different samplepresentation formats, and a software program for presenting the at leastone digital low resolution image with respect to the plurality of samplepresentation formats and means for selecting one of the plurality ofsample presentation formats so that an entire presentation formatassociated with the sample presentation format can be applied to anassociated high resolution digital image, stored separately by a serviceprovider, with the low resolution digital image.

These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a reviewof the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments andappended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of theinvention presented below, reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram for a system made in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 depicts a flow chart illustrating the steps required in thepractice of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a photographic services request bag useful in thepractice of the present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts a flow chart illustrating the steps required in thepractice of an alternative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 depicts a system block diagram for a service kiosk useful in thepractice of the present invention;

FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart illustrating the steps required in thepractice of an alternative embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart illustrating the steps required in thepractice of an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning first to FIG. 1, there is shown an overall diagram for a system10 according to the present invention for providing a multimediapresentation to a user on an image storage and playback media disk 15.Disk 15 is playable on a user's computer 20, video CD (VCD) player 25,or DVD player 30, set-top box or game box (not shown) where these latterplayers are connected to the user's television set 35. To initiate arequest for a multimedia presentation, the user first provides imagesand other content to a photo service provider 40. As shown in FIG. 1, inone embodiment of the invention images are provided to the photo serviceprovider 40 in the form of unprocessed exposed film 45, negatives 50, orprints 55 at a service drop-off location 60. Multimedia material such asvideotape 65 or audio cassette 70 may also be provided. In addition,images and multimedia material may be provided in digital form onvarious kinds of removable memory such as a flash memory card 75 orcomputer disk 80. The images or multimedia materials are sent byconventional transportation means 85 to the photo service provider 40for processing and preparation. As an alternative, where images andmultimedia material are provided in digital form on a removable flashmemory card 75 or disk 80, the data from these media may be read out atthe service drop-off location 60 and transferred electronically to photoservice provider 40 by means of a communications network such as theInternet 90. In this way the removable memory devices may be returned tothe customer immediately. In another embodiment, described in moredetail later, images and multimedia content may be provided by a userfrom a service kiosk 95, again using removable memory devices such as aflash memory card 75, or computer disks 80 or 100. Data collected byreaders (not shown in FIG. 1) at the service kiosk 95 is transferredelectronically to the photo service provider 40 via the Internet 90. Inyet another embodiment (described in more detail later), images andmultimedia material may be uploaded directly from a user's computer 20to photo service provider 40 using the Internet 90. In certain otherembodiments to be described later, part of the content of the multimediapresentation may be derived from a third party content provider 105 incommunication with the photo service provider 40 via the Internet 90.Once a multimedia presentation disk 15 has been prepared and ordered bya user, it is delivered to the user via conventional delivery means 110including, for example, the US mail service or one of a number of thewell-known private delivery carriers.

In order to more completely explain the present invention, the operationof several preferred embodiments will now be described in detail.Referring first to FIG. 2, there is shown a flowchart illustrating theoperation of a preferred embodiment of the invention. Initially, in step120, a user provides an account or user I.D. number, if one exists, tophoto service provider 40, submits images or other multimedia materialsand selects a format for a first multimedia presentation. If there is nopre-existing account, the user will be prompted to initiate one. Imagesmay be submitted to the photo service provider 40 in any number of ways.For example, the user may submit a roll of exposed film or a one-timeuse camera containing exposed film, or strips of negatives which havebeen suitably marked to indicate the images to be included in themultimedia presentation. Positive transparencies, or photographic printsmay also be supplied to the service provider 40. Digital images storedon a flash memory card, magnetic or optical computer storage disk, orother type of removable digital memory device may also be submitted.Video or audio tapes along with information indicating the selection ofvideo scene or audio segment may also be included. In FIG. 3, a photoservice request bag 125 useful for the practice of this embodiment ofthe invention is shown. After first filling out the customer name andaddress and user ID number information on lines 130, the user selectsthe “multimedia disk” option box 135. The user specifies the types ofmultimedia materials (as described above ) submitted by checking theboxes in section 140 of the form. The user also selects the options tobe included in the first presentation, including “THEME/STYLE” 145,“MUSIC TYPE” 150 and type of “TRANSITIONS” 155 desired. It should beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the format optionsillustrated here, and that within the scope of the invention, there maybe also other types format selection choices offered to the user suchas, for example, options relating to the overall mood of thepresentation (e.g., “happy”, “somber”, etc) or relating to a particularevent (Daytona 500 race) or venue-related theme (Disney World).Multimedia materials are placed in the bag and the bag is then submittedat a photo service pick-up location.

As an alternative to submitting images and multimedia materials at aservice drop off point, a user may also submit images to photo serviceprovider 40 in step 120 by electronic transfer. Digital images alongwith presentation format selections may be uploaded directly to photoservice provider 40 from the user's personal computer using theInternet, or from a service kiosk connected to the service provider by acommunications network where images are brought to the kiosk by a useron any kind of removable memory storage device such as a flash memorycard, or magnetic or optical computer storage disk. In addition, digitalimages already pre-stored in a pre-existing account with photo serviceprovider 40 can be specified for requesting a multimedia presentation.For example images stored in an on-line photoalbum such as those offeredby the Internet-based photo site, Ofoto™ may be specified. Pre-storeddigital images along with presentation formats may be specified by auser by any means of communicating with the service provider over acommunications network including a user's personal computer, or from akiosk, or by telephone, or by submitting a paper request form (notshown) to the photo service provider 40.

Returning again to FIG. 2, once a user has submitted images and/or othermultimedia materials and a selection of presentation formats to thephoto service provider 40, in step 160 the photo service provider 40next prepares the images, should this be required (e.g., the serviceprovider 40 processes any exposed film submitted and/or digitizes theimages from hard copy images or from the video or audio tape submitted.)If digital images have been supplied by the user, these images mayinclude additional information in the form of image metadata which cancontain, among other things, information regarding the date, time andlocation where the image was recorded, or information about the subjectmatter of the image. Any such metadata present with the images is alsoanalyzed by the service provider in step 160. Additional informationregarding the images supplied may also include the orientation of theimage (“landscape” or “portrait” orientation), which may be determinedby an automatic analysis of digital image files by methods well known inthe art. The presence and elimination of any blank frames which may bepresent in film which has been submitted may also be determined, againby well known methods, and these frames automatically eliminated fromany subsequent presentation format, also in step 160. If a user alreadyhas an established account with the service provider 40 and has supplieda user ID or account number in step 120, the service provider 40 in step165 consults a database of stored past user preferences to determine ifthe user has requested multimedia disks in the past, and, if so, whichpresentation formats had been requested. Next, in step 170, the serviceprovider prepares a first multimedia presentation disk, based upon theuser-selected format, metadata information and past preferences of theuser. As an example of how this metadata information may be used, themetadata may contain information about the dates or times or subjects ofthe images supplied, and this information may be used to group theimages in the first presentation in a certain way, or present them in aparticular order. This grouping can be achieved using an eventclustering algorithm such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No.6,351,556, to Loui and Pavie, which discloses a method for automaticallycomparing the content of images for classification by event. Inaddition, the image content can be analyzed using computer vision andimage understanding algorithms to detect a main subject of interest, orto classify it into different scenes, e.g., birthday party, graduation,wedding, picnic, beach activities, etc. This semantic information may beused to influence the overall theme, transitions, special effects, andmusic choices of the presentation. Past preferences of the user may alsoinfluence the first presentation. If, for example, the user had selectedmusic type “Rock” (FIG. 3, 175) on the request bag 125 and the databaseof past preferences shows that, in the past, the user had ultimatelypreferred “Contemporary Rock” more often than “60's Rock” in the finalpresentation, then a “Contemporary Rock” soundtrack may be supplied withthe initial presentation. With the user's images and multimediamaterials, format selections and past preferences in hand, the serviceprovider 40 assembles the first multimedia presentation by selectingfrom a set of pre-established and stored template files and adding theuser's data files to the selected templates. The pre-establishedtemplates contain design features relating to the overall style, theme,type of transitions, etc., of the presentation which have been requestedby the user. In addition, stored audio clips relating to the choicesspecified by the user and sized appropriately for length to provide asoundtrack to the presentation are added to the template at this point.The automated template feature will assemble and compose all thenecessary materials into a multimedia composition. Then an appropriateencoding (such as MPEG) will be carried out to compress the multimediacomposition into a multimedia bitstream for playback using for example aDVD player. Such a template-based method particularly useful forauthoring a multimedia disk is disclosed in the commonly assigned,co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/885,577 hereinincorporated by reference. Finally, the service provider 40 writes themultimedia bit stream to a computer storage disk and sends the disk tothe user. The service provider 40 may choose to write the multimediaimage data to the disk in a resolution lower than that of the image dataavailable in stored form, in order to better fit the data densityrequirements of the particular storage medium employed. The disk may besent by mail or package delivery service to the user, or the user maypick up the first disk at a service pick-up location. In step 180, theuser views the first presentation disk using a DVD or VCD player, or apersonal computer. In decision step 185, if the user is satisfied withthe first presentation, then the process ends with step 190. If, on theother hand, in step 185 the user is not satisfied with the firstpresentation, she then accesses a selection of new presentation formatsin step 195 by downloading them from the service provider 40 to his/herpersonal computer using the Internet. The user then makes new formatchoices in step 200. Alternatively, the new presentation choices may besupplied on the original first presentation disk along with appropriatesoftware to enable their viewing and selection. The choice of newpresentation formats provided to the user may be made in an adaptivemanner since, for example in step 205, the service provider 40 iscontinuously monitoring a user's choices in real time and modifying theselection of new formats offered, based upon these past choices. Also instep 200, using software tools well-known in the art, the user has theopportunity to further edit the presentation through the addition ordeletion of images, or by cropping, rotating or adding captions toimages. Next, in step 210, the user previews the revised presentationand decides in step 215 if she is satisfied with it. If the newpresentation meets expectations, the user places an order for the newpresentation in step 220. If the new presentation does not meetexpectations in decision step 215, then the user is returned to theprevious step 200 to make new selections and the cycle of selecting andpreviewing continues until the user is satisfied with the presentation.Once the order for a new presentation has been placed in step 220, theprovider stores the user's final selections in a database in step 225for use in aiding with future presentations which may be requested (seestep 165). Finally, in step 230, the new presentation disk is producedand sent to the user by mail or delivery service. Alternatively, theuser may be notified that the new presentation disk is available for ata service pick-up location. In yet another alternative, where the userpossesses a compact disk writer, the user may elect to download thefinal presentation to her personal computer and write the presentationdisk locally. Payment for the presentation may be by credit card over anetwork, or tendered at the service pick-up location by any of the usualmeans.

A third party supplier can be an alternative source of presentationformat options for a user to select from in revising the firstpresentation, and in FIG. 4 is shown the operation of such an embodimentof the invention. The embodiment of FIG. 4 operates exactly as theembodiment of FIG. 1 until the completion of step 185 (point A in FIG.2) at which point the description continues in FIG. 4 at point A withlike numbers indicating like steps in both FIGS. 2 and 4. In step 195when a user accesses new presentation formats by downloading them fromthe service provider's website, some of these formats may be supplied bya third party supplier in step 197. Examples of third party-suppliedpresentation formats include, but are not limited to, sound clips forinclusion in the soundtrack of the presentation, stock images includingstill images or video clips which have subject matter related to thesubject of the presentation and which add interest and variety to thepresentation. As an example, if a user has supplied images from a familytrip to the Winter 2002 Olympics, a third party site may offer a videoclip of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics for inclusion in thepresentation, or a sound clip of the “Olympic Fanfare” for use on aportion of the soundtrack. Copyrights needed for any of the third partysupplied material are handled by the third party and means for sharingrevenue between the service provider 40 and the third party are arrangedautomatically and in a way transparent to the user (see later steps inFIG. 4). Selections supplied by a third party may be indicated as suchon the service provider's website, or not, depending upon thearrangement between the service provider 40 and third party. Advertisingmessages relating to a third party may also be displayed on the serviceprovider's website, again depending upon the contractual arrangementbetween service provider 40 and the third party.

Continuing with FIG. 4, steps 200 through 225 are identical to thecorresponding steps of the embodiment of FIG. 2. A determination is madein step 230 if any format selections had been provided by a third partyand, if this was the case, then the portion of revenue due the thirdparty is computed and forwarded to the third party by the serviceprovider 40 in step 235. In step 240 the new presentation disk isproduced and the final payment due is computed taking into account anythird party charges. Finally, in step 245, the provider collects paymentfrom the user as described previously for other embodiments, and thepresentation is delivered to the user.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, the delivery of the firstpresentation format to a user and the user's subsequent modification tothe presentation is carried out in a real-time interactive mode. Theinvention may be practiced in such an interactive mode using, forexample, a service kiosk having image display capability where the userfirst specifies images and selects initial presentation criteria, andthen views the first presentation format directly without the need toprovide a first presentation on a disk to the user. After an initialreview of the first presentation, the user is able to access a selectionof new formats directly at the kiosk and preview the new presentationand approve it before a final disk containing the user's final choice ofpresentation format is produced. A block diagram of the components ofsuch a service kiosk is shown in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 5, kiosk 95comprises essentially a CPU 250 connected to touch-screen display 255for displaying a multimedia presentation to a user and enabling the userto make selections of presentation formats. Connected to the computer250 are inputs 260 for accepting flash memory cards, 265 for acceptingmagnetic computer storage disks, and 270 for accepting CD-ROM storagedisks. The computer 250 in kiosk 95 is connected to photo serviceprovider 40 via a communications network 90, such as the Internet, andis loaded with software and a user interface appropriate to theinteractive creation of a multimedia presentation disk as described indetail below. Also connected to computer 250 are compact disk writer 275and DVD writer 280 for writing the final disk selection for the user.Credit card reader 285 for accepting payment is also connected to CPU250.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the steps in detail to be carried out in theoperation of this interactive embodiment of the invention are shown. Asin previously described embodiments, the user first provides hard copyor digital images and multimedia material to be included in thepresentation to a service provider 40 (step 290) and the serviceprovider 40 prepares the images and analyzes them for information (step295) as in the embodiments already described. Once the images have beenprepared and posted to the user's account, the user may access at anytime his account at a service kiosk location where, in step 300, theservice provider 40 provides an initial set of presentation formatoptions. The options offered initially can be, for example, identical tothe options offered on the photo service request bag shown in FIG. 3,except that in this interactive embodiment of the invention, examples ofthe actual appearance of the options are shown to the user using theimage display capability of the service kiosk to aid in the selectionprocess. As an example, if the “Halloween” theme is selected, a portionof a sample presentation in which the “Halloween” theme is used is shownto the user. After he is satisfied with previewing the variouspresentation options, the user designates the particular presentationformat options he wishes to have using, for example, a touch screen userinterface in step 305. The provider then prepares the initialpresentation format in accordance with the user's selected criteria andany analyzed information available and plays the initial presentationfor the user by means of the kiosk's image display capability (step310). The service provider 40 may choose to provide the multimedia imagedata to the kiosk in a resolution lower than that of the image dataavailable in stored form, in order to better fit the data transmissionrequirements of the particular communications network 90 employed.Turning for a moment to FIG. 7, there is shown a further variation inthe initial steps of this interactive embodiment of the invention wherethe user provides only images and does not need to make any selection ofpresentation criteria for the first presentation. In this variation, theuser first provides images to the service provider 40 in step 315 aspreviously described. In step 320, the service provider 40 prepares theimages and analyzes them for information regarding, for example, thedate, time or location of image capture which may be present in themetadata for the image. In addition to the information in the imagemetadata available for the images provided, the service provider 40 alsomay use various image understanding algorithms to automaticallydetermine the subject matter of at least some of the images. Forexample, object recognition algorithms may be applied to the digitalimages to determine if well-known cultural icons are present such as,for example, Christmas trees, birthday parties or graduation robes. Thepresence of such icons in the images allows a reasonable inferenceregarding the type of event which may have been the occasion for theimages to be captured. Such information will provide user specificinformation for selecting overall theme, mood, and music. For example,if the images are analyzed to be of a particular season likes winter,the authoring system can selectively offer music suitable for winterseason. The choices can be further refined with the knowledge of thetype of event such as Christmas celebration. In addition, the serviceprovider 40 also examines the database of past preferences of theparticular customer in presentation formats, including types oftransitions, choices of music for the sound track, etc. Based on allthis information, the service provider 40 then creates and displays aninitial presentation format to the user in step 325.

Returning now to FIG. 6, the sequence of steps for both the interactiveembodiments of FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 begin again at point B in FIG. 6. Instep 330, the user views the trial presentation format on the kiosk'sdisplay and if he is satisfied with it (step 335), then a disk iswritten locally at the service kiosk and provided to the customer instep 340 and payment is also collected.

The remaining steps in both interactive embodiments are now identical tothe embodiment of FIG. 1, beginning at point A in FIG. 2. Still workingat the kiosk, if the user was not satisfied with the first presentationin step 335, he is able to access a selection of new presentationformats, select new criteria, add/delete or edit images, etc, and repeatthese steps just as previously described for the embodiment of FIG. 2until he is satisfied with the presentation. As before, once satisfied,the user places an order and receives and pays for a copy of hispresentation written on a media disk at the kiosk. It should beappreciated that while lower resolution data may have been employed inorder to supply trial presentations for display at the kiosk 95, thedata written to the media disk may utilize the full image resolutionavailable in the stored image data files.

It will also be understood that such an interactive embodiment,essentially like that just described, may also be practiced by a userfrom a personal computer where initial format selections are made and aninitial presentation is viewed and modified without creating a firstpresentation disk. In this variation, the final presentation would bedownloaded and written to a disk locally at the user's personalcomputer.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference tocertain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood thatvariations and modifications can be effected within the scope of theinvention.

PARTS LIST

-   10 system-   15 playback media disk-   20 computer-   25 video CD player-   30 DVD player-   35 television set-   40 photo service provider-   45 exposed film-   50 photo negatives-   55 photo prints-   60 service drop off location-   65 video tape-   70 audio cassette-   75 flash memory card-   80 computer disk-   85 transportation means-   90 Internet-   95 service kiosk-   100 computer disk-   105 third party content provider-   110 conventional delivery means-   120 step-   125 photo service request bag-   130 address/ID entry space-   135 service option selection box-   140 processing options selection boxes-   145 presentation format options-   150 presentation format options-   155 presentation format options-   160 step-   165 step-   170 step-   175 presentation format option-   180 step-   185 step-   190 step-   195 step-   197 step-   200 step-   205 step-   210 step-   215 step-   220 step-   225 step-   230 step-   235 step-   240 step-   245 step-   250 CPU-   255 touch-screen display-   260 memory card reader-   265 magnetic disk reader-   270 compact disk reader-   275 compact disk writer-   280 DVD writer-   285 credit card reader-   290 step-   295 step-   300 step-   305 step-   310 step-   315 step-   320 step-   325 step-   330 step-   335 step-   340 step

1. A method for customizing a presentation of a set of multimediamaterial provided by a user, comprising: selecting initial presentationcriteria for a set of multimedia material by said user; analyzingcontent of said multimedia material for additional information;providing to said user a first portable electronic storage medium havinga presentation format stored thereon, said presentation format basedupon said initial selected presentation criteria and said analysis ofsaid additional information; and providing a software program to saiduser enabling said user to select additional presentation criteria. 2.The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of providingto said user a second portable electronic storage medium having said setof multimedia material stored thereon, said multimedia material capableof being presented to said user on a display device in accordance withsaid selected additional presentation criteria.
 3. The method accordingto claim 1 wherein said software program is provided on said firstportable electronic storage medium.
 4. The method according to claim 1wherein said portable electronic storage media comprises one of thefollowing: a computer disk; a CD ROM; a DVD; a video disk or a solidstate memory device.
 5. The method according to claim 1 wherein saidpresentation format comprises one of the following: type of visual imagepresentation; or type of audio presentation.
 6. The method according toclaim 5 wherein said type of visual image presentation comprises one ofthe following: fade; dissolve; wipe; text; or graphics.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 5 wherein said type of audio presentation comprisesone of the following; music type; personal recording; or sounds.
 8. Themethod according to claim 5 wherein said software automatically accessesa database over a communication network for presenting said additionalpresentation formats.
 9. The method according to claim 8 wherein saidpresentation formats are supplied by a third party supplier.
 10. Themethod according to claim 9 wherein said third party supplier receives aportion of revenue.
 11. The method according to claim 10 wherein saidthird party supplier receives advertising message exposure on a serviceprovider's website in lieu of at least a part of said portion ofrevenue.
 12. The method according to claim 1 further comprisingmonitoring said user's preferences with respect to said selectedadditional presentation criteria.
 13. The method according to claim 12wherein additional presentation criteria are presented for selection bysaid user and are based on said monitoring of said user's preferences.14. The method according to claim 2 wherein a second software program isprovided on said second portable electronic storage medium for providingyet another presentation format for presenting of said digital imagesdifferent from any previous presentation format.
 15. A method forcustomizing a presentation of a set of multimedia material provided by auser, comprising: selecting an initial presentation criteria for saidmultimedia material by said user; analyzing content of said multimediamaterial for additional information; providing said multimedia materialin association with a first presentation format that can be viewed bysaid user, said format selected in accordance with said initial selectedpresentation criteria and said analysis of said additional information,said presentation format also including a selection menu for providinginstructions for modifying and/or changing said presentation format to asecond presentation format; selecting said instructions for modifyingand/or changing said presentation format; and forwarding said selectedinstructions to a service provider for implementing with regard to amodified format and representing said multimedia material in associationtherewith to said user.
 16. The method according to claim 15, furthercomprising the step of maintaining a record of the preferences of saiduser for future use in associating a second collection of multimediamaterial with a presentation format for said user.
 17. The methodaccording to claim 15 wherein said set of digital images provided by auser are high resolution images, but said multimedia material providedin association with a first presentation format are low resolutionimages.
 18. A method for customizing a presentation of a set ofmultimedia materials provided by a user, comprising: selecting initialpresentation criteria for a set of multimedia materials by a user;analyzing the content of said multimedia materials for additionalinformation; providing to said user a portable electronic storage mediumhaving said presentation format stored thereon based upon said initialselected presentation criteria and inferences drawn from the analysis ofsaid additional information; and providing a software program to saiduser enabling said user to select additional presentation criteria.